World-Prayer-Congress for Life
in
„Mary, We Entrust You with
the Cause of Life" (H.H., Pope John Paul II., Evangelium
Vitae, #105)
Conference Nr. 1
October
4, 2006
Prof.
Américo López Ortiz
Address to the Pro Life Prayer Congress in
INTRODUCTION
His Excellency D. Karl Josef Romer,
Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Family;
His Excellency D. António Marto, Bishop of the Diocese
Leiria-Fatima;
His Excellency D. Serafim Ferreira de Sousa e Silva, Bishop
Emeritus of the Diocese of Leiria-Fatima;
Monsignor Luciano Guerra, Rector of the Fatima-Shrine;
Rev. Fr. Luis Kondor, SVD, Vice-Postulator for the
Cause of Canonization of Jacinta and Francisco Marto,
Fr. John Eutenauer; President of Human Life International;
Fr. Dr. Leo Maasburg; National Director of Missio
Mr.
Mr. Pius Stössel, President of the organization Ja zum
Leben International,
Guest speakers and delegates to the Pro Life Prayer
Congress in
I am deeply
honoured to open this congress in
Here in
The Message of
Fatima is a message of life and peace. It is a life and peace-giving message
for through it the Gospel’s Message of Salvation is announced to humanity in a
new way adapted to the needs and urgencies of our present times. The Message of
Fatima is a most excellent instrument for the “New Evangelization”; essential
task of the Church in our days. In this way, a private revelation serves the
public revelation as a way to face the present moral and spiritual crisis of
our civilization.
Fatima and its
Message are life-giving, peace-giving instruments of unique force and dynamism,
because through prayer they open the channels of divine grace, communicating us
a “culture of life and peace”, a new style of living, new attitudes and values,
new folkways and mores, making possible the establishment of the Kingdom of God
in our days with a new vigour and strength.
The World
Apostolate of Fatima has as its mission the New Evangelization proposed by the
Great John Paul II, and his successor Benedict XVI, using the Message of Fatima
as its instrument for achieving a culture for life, world peace, Church unity
and conversion of sinners, a new “civilization of love”. This new springtime
for the Church, this Marian Pentecost, is prophesised By Our Lady of Fatima as
the triumph of Her Immaculate Heart, a triumph that should and must be achieved
during the XXI century.
We must pray for
solutions to war, abortion, terrorism, genocide, child slavery, assisted
suicide and other atrocities. These problems have a spiritual component and
thus require spiritual as practical solutions. A World Pro Life Prayer Congress
in Fátima is a major step towards this goal. Also, the WAF is inviting everyone
to join on October 8th to pray for Life and Peace, on the largest
day of organised prayer the world has ever seen. One billion meditative prayers
will rise to heaven this day from 120 countries, asking that the culture for
life overcomes the culture of death, bringing forward an era of peace promised
in Fatima as the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
THE SPIRITUALITY OF THE
The Primacy of God in the Message of
Pope
John XIII said: “
Through the words of Our Lady of
Fatima the “Good News” of her beloved Son comes to life. The Virgin Mary came
to
The goals Our Lady strives for are
clear: world peace, the repentance of sinners, and the establishment of the
“Reign of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary”, with everything that it
implies.
The
goals of Our Lady should become the guiding goals of our own lives. Our
collective national and international projects should be based on the prophetic
vision of Our Lady of Fatima, striving for a NEW ERA FOR HUMANITY, which will
be the product of the TRIUMPH OF HER IMMACULATE HEART over the enemies of
Christ.
As we
know, in the decisive battle between the forces of Woman and the Ancient
Serpent, we – the children of Woman – will be the protagonists in the DRAMA OF
THE CENTURY because through our joint effort, our ample creative force, and our
push to spread the Good News we will modify the corrupt structures that serve
as barriers to the establishment of the Kingdom of God. Our Lord will use us as
small, fragile and apparently useless tools in the transformation of the world
to fit His image. That is why the Virgin Mary is putting together a ARMY OF
SOULS CONSECRATED TO HER as apostles for our times. When everything seems to be
lost, when the forces of evil claim their victory, when the shadows seem to
overwhelm the face of the earth, then THE VIRGIN, THE WINNER OF ALL THE BATTLES
OF GOD, will bring forth her ARMY OF CONSACRATED SOULS to intervene in a
decisive way recognizable to all and claim victory THROUGH JEUSU CHRIST, WITH
CHRIST, AND IN CHRIST. This will be the triumph of HIS MOTHER’S HEART, AND THE
BEGINNING OF HER REIGN OVER HUMANITY. Then “all generations will call her
blessed because the Almighty has done great things through Her”. All lips will
sing the glories of Mary.
The
signs of the announced TRIUMPH OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY can be found in
the context of the Message from Our Lady: World Peace, the Conversion of
Russia, the weakening of the influence of evil over humanity, the unity of all
Christians, and the strengthening of the
Even
if what has to be done strikes us as formidable, it is important to point out
the practical character of Our Mother’s prophesy in
1. Meditative Prayer – through daily recitation of the
Holy Rosary (at least five of the mysteries, a tertiary) as an effective method
for the development of souls in harmony with Our Lord capable of applying to
their lives “the spiritual direction” which meditation on the events of the
lives of Christ and Mary has to offer. The Rosary, like a version of the Gospel
summarized through the Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious and Luminous Mysteries will
teach us how to live as Christ and Mary would have lived in our particular
circumstances. We will not have to wait long for the results: abundant fruits
of peace as a consequence of the dispersal of the shadows of the contemporary
world. With that, the great tragedy of modern man alienated by his unhealthy
egocentricity will be overcome until the collective neurosis that seems to
infect interpersonal relationships and poison international relations inciting
wars and conflicts which only serve to increase human misery will be
eradicated.
2. Reparation – which becomes life-giving penance, whose
principal manifestation is the joyous acceptance of God’s will, offering Our
Lord through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, our prayers good deeds, sufferings,
joys and happiness, in other words, all our being and existence, in order for
us to become like Christ – a pure sacrifice to God the Father – so that we
truly become his disciples, carrying our crosses every day, until we can say along
with St. Paul: “I am no longer the one who lives, it is Christ who lives in
me”. This is the principal function of Mary in our lives, to mould our souls in
the image and likeness of her Divine Son. It is the essence of Mary, her “FIAT”
of the joyous acceptance of God’s will, “I am the handmaid of the Lord. Be it
done unto me according to thy Word”. In the submission of Mary; correctly
understood as a voluntary, free, and spontaneous giving up of her own liberty,
which is transformed into a loving promise with the self-revealing Truth;
resides the greatness of Mary. There is no greater honour that that of being
the servant to the servant of the Lord, because there we give up our free will
which bestows human dignity upon us, for LOVE, which we will surpass all our
possibilities in a infinite and ineffable ocean of affection. As a corollary to
such an attitude towards life, mortifying acts undertaken for love become
possible, to the extent of being willing to give up even permissible pleasures,
in order to discipline ourselves spiritually and morally. Sacrifice will root
our essence in Christ, which will be the TRUE DIRECTING CENTER OF OUR LIVES.
Rooted in Christ, our true essence, we will truly belong to our Lord, as
effective instruments in the pursuit of his plans of salvation for modern man.
The result will not be long in waiting: “Numerous souls will convert, because
many are lost for lack of someone to pray and SACRIFICE for them”. And after
the conversion of many, other will forsake their indifference for an authentic
fervour, while those already blessed with fervour will attain high levels of
perfection.
In
a.
Penance – in its dual acceptance of our submission to the will of God, which
implies that we carry our daily cross, accepting the suffering that God sends
us, as well as the mortification we inflict on ourselves by voluntary privation
and sacrifice.
b.
Reparatory Prayer – with a profound adoration for the Majesty of God which we
offend with our lack of love, and which is superbly contained in the prayer by
The Angel from Fatima and addressed to the Holy Trinity with the purpose of
“consoling Our Good Lord, who is greatly offended”.
c.
Reparatory Holy Communion – through the Holy Sacrament of the altar transformed
into a Banquet through the Eucharist, the Virgin offers THE GREAT PROMISE OF
HER IMMACULATE HEART, a promise of
salvation for those she most especially loves, being Pontevedra, in the unity
of Fatima, the nerve centre of such a great opportunity for men hungering for
God. Through the reparatory devotion of the first Saturdays of the month Our
Lady emphasizes the major importance of the Eucharistic as THE UNBENDING PILLAR
OF CHRISTIAN LIFE.
3. Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, SOUL OF
THE MESSAGE OF FATIMA, which consists of entrusting of our past, present and
future existence to the Lord through Mary. This is the true realization of our
baptismal promises, in which we renounced Satan and all his works, the corrupt
world, and our own egocentric weaknesses, in order to become the “new man”, the
“new being”, raised up to the dignity of an adopted son of God, a true “ALTER
CHRISTUS”, with all that that implies. Through our consecration to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary we become true spiritual children of Mary, conceived
in her own heart, beating in union with all the Sacred Hearts, in an ineffable
harmony of loving. The authentic consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
in which we find various levels of perfection, constitutes a real school of
sanctity, a marvellous spirituality, that even today is not an exhausted
subject, but on the contrary, continues bringing forth new works dedicated to
Mary that diffuse throughout the Church and the world “the marvels” contained
in the heart of such a unique mother.
For
now, we can point to several levels of consecration suggested by the Story of
Fatima, which are as follows:
a. A
rejection of sin, timidity, and indifference in favour of an imitation of
Christ, his virtues and teachings, through a Marian spirit of joyous acceptance
of the will of God, with all its repercussions for the human soul.
b. A
deepening in the inner life of prayer, through the discovery of a personal God
who beats within our hearts, and a desire to please “the Good Lord” even in the
smallest details so that “the fire of Our Lord burns our heart”, This fire
being of a spiritual nature in two respects, to “console” Our Lord for all the
ingratitude and indifference with which we offend him as much as to convey and
communicate the wave of burning love which consumes everything in grace and
apostolic dedication, “to whomever I may communicate this burning fire within
my breast”. In the first respect, we find that Francisco distinguished himself,
the prophet enamoured of the spiritual consolation of Our Lord and frequently
forgotten and despised by humanity. In the second respect, we find that Jacinta
distinguished herself as an untiring apostle in the conversion of sinners.
c. The
highest mystical peaks can be reached as the priceless gift of the Heart of
such a Holy Mother who gives sublime gifts to her favourite children revealing
her most unimaginable treasures. Lucia, APOSTLE OF HER HEART, contemplates in
Tuy the ineffable mystery of the Holy Trinity, through the Heart of Mary,
receiving illuminations concerning this mystery which she is not allowed to
reveal. The total spiritual marriage, the entrusting of total existence in
reciprocity with Christ, making the human soul “another beloved disciple of
his”, with a love so special that it elevates us to the category of intimate
friends with Christ as “flowers placed by Mary to adorn the throne of God”.
BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO REACH SUCH A STATE OF